One of the Drunks

Unconsciously, Alex's actions mirrored his mind. Fiddling with his drink, the dark amber liquid splashed and swirled about in the shot glass that held it. Much like his beverage, his train of thought shared its speed and intensity with the tiny aquatic funnel in his glass. The young man was trapped in his own chaotic downwards spiral, and Luz was partially to blame. He was so wrapped up in his twister of thoughts that he hardly noticed that a middle-aged man of rather heavy set had taken a seat beside him.

"You alright, kid?"

Alex jumped at the sound of the simple question and turned to the right. The stranger gave a slight chuckle along with a queasy smile.

"Didn't mean to scare ya, kid."

Alex sighed to himself.

"Well, I'm Dave," the man continued as he extended his arm to offer a handshake.

Alex saw the gesture but made no effort to return the common courtesy. He just gently placed his half empty glass upon the counter and gave another dejected sigh. The stranger then got up turned his back to the young man, but then paused to give his parting words.

"Oh, and when you're done moping, feel free to join me and my buddies over in the corner."

Out of curiosity, Alex's eyes followed the older man as he approached a table with two seated men. The short scrawny one stood up at the sight of the stranger. The two of them took to a conversation which Alex lead to suspect was most likely about him. Probably because they had exchanged a few glances with him from across the room. The other man, who was much larger than the two that were standing in both terms of weight and height, remained seated as he shuffled a deck of playing cards with one hand.

Something about the group made Alex uneasy. Perhaps, it was the way that they exchanged grins as they discussed whatever they had been planning to do. Or maybe, it was the way they snickered behind his back. Regardless of the reason, he knew it would be best to leave. Slowly, Alex rose from his seat before proceeding to make his way towards the exit. Just as he was about to push the door open, he felt a hand upon his shoulder. The young man stiffened.

"What's the matter, son?" A gruff voice asked. "You scared or something?"

Alex shifted away from the speaker's grasp and turned around to confront whomever it was. His eyes rose from worn hardwood floor and fell on the face of the rather large man from the table. The stranger's dark brown eyes gleamed with a sense of trouble from behind his well aged glasses as he shifted his fedora with his good arm. The other limb was nothing but a knob. Alex glanced at it for a moment before reestablishing eye contact. The man chuckled in amusement.

"I bet you're wondering about my arm—or perhaps the lack there off. I'd be more than happy to tell you about it if you took up my pal's invitation of joining us in the back over there. We don't bite, kid—all that often."

Alex was about to reply with a kind rejection, but the stranger had already placed an arm around his shoulders and began walking them both towards the table.

"The name's Paul." The man said with a smirk. "But around here, I'm Stump."

The young man nodded in acknowledgment but hadn't returned the favor of introducing himself. Paul noticed this. Perhaps, the kid wasn't comfortable yet. He decided not to push it. He'd get his name eventually.

"It's nice seeing a new face around here," Paul continued just to break the subtle silence. "I'm sure Samson's glad about it too."

By the time the two of them reached the table in the back corner of the bar, the man from earlier, Dave, had gotten this hands on the deck. And after a quick lick of his fingers he began to deal out the cards. The man that sat across from him looked up at Alex and gave a twisted smile. Paul removed his arm from Alex's shoulders before his hand found its way to the young man's back. He then pushed Alex forward causing to him to nearly stumble into the table.

"You've met Dave." Paul stated as he motioned towards his friend who was at the time too focused on dealing out the cards to notice. He then turned to the short guy, the one who had given Alex that chilling grin. "That's Jack."

The young man remained silent but again, he nodded in acknowledgement after the brief introductions. Paul then pulled out a seat for him and waited for him to sit before sitting himself across from Alex. Once everyone had seemed to have settled around the table, Dave began to deal out the cards again for all four of them this time.

"So, kid..." Jack said with another smirk like expression. "Know how to play poker?"

Alex shook his head from side to side as he watched the cards fly from Dave's grasp and land right in front of him.

"Huh." Jack replied with a slight sense of disappointment. "Looks like we've got to teach ya."

Dave looked over at Alex as he placed another card down in front of him. He then dealt all that needed to be before asking a question.

"What kind of a man doesn't know how to play poker?' He said with a chuckle.

"Perhaps one who thinks he's self-righteous or a Catholic or something." Jack said as he investigated the cards before him.

Paul took a gander at his hand as well before his attention turned to Alex. Then Dave and Jack would both do the latter. They all stared the young man down as if expecting him to say something. Alex shifted uncomfortably.

"Well..." he said with a slight sense of hesitation, "Where I come from, it's illegal."

"And where's that?" Jack asked.

"Texas."

"Really?" Dave interjected. "You sure don't sound like a Texan. Where's that distinctive southern drawl?"

"Not all Texans have that." Alex answered. "Also, isn't it illegal to gamble here too?"

The men grew quiet for a moment and exchanged glances amongst themselves. Dave gave a nervous chuckle. Jack simply shrugged. Paul cleared his throat before making an offer.

"We won't tell if you won't." He said with a wink. "And besides, if we get caught it's only a misdemeanor."

"No thanks." Said Alex before rising from his seat, "I'll pass."

"Aw," Jack chimed in with false admiration. "The kid's too much of a chicken."

The young man pushed in his chair turned away from the group. The men continued to taunt him from afar, but Alex wasn't about to give in. He walked back over to the spot he had earlier at the counter and pulled out a stool.

A pair of proportionally small protruding ears attached to a gleaming bald head of a middle-aged man perked up at the chime of the electronic doorbell. His thick bushy brows furrowed as the brown eyes beneath them narrowed intently. But the long boney fingers of his left hand continued to dig into a worn washcloth as it glided across the dark mahogany of the counter. He gazed into his own reflection upon the flat surface before him seemingly uninterested in whoever had decided to enter the bar. He could feel the muscles below his semi-translucent skin tug at his mouth to form a subtle frown above his chiseled jaw.

"I thought I told you to get lost," the man growled without even turning around, "Unless, you've managed to get yourself an actual ID this time."

Alex removed something from his back pocket. He placed the item on the counter and slid it towards the man who then examined the object with utmost scrutiny. The bartender behind the counter stared down at it, that fresh off the press driver's license then looked back at the young man.

"1995," the employee growled, "God, how I hated that year."

Alex frowned with growing impatience. He had little to no interest in what whatever the man could possibly say.

"I guess you want a drink, huh?"

Alex nodded as he pointed to a drink on the board behind the counter.

"You sure you want that?" The bartender asked with the raise of brow, "That stuff is awfully strong."

Then an older woman took a seat beside Alex and grinned.

"Just give the kid the drink, Samson." she said with a chuckle, "Let him find out for himself."

With a reluctant shrug, Samson eventually forked over the ice-cold beverage. Alex stared the drink down. The glass that contained it was rather small and the beverage had little to no scent. The drink was clear, but still somewhat murky, sort of like water when chilled with ice for quite some time. But this was no glass of ice and water. No, this was something different. And it wouldn't be until the young man chugged the whole thing down that the fact would be confirmed. The fluid slid down his throat as the last of it tickled his taste buds. He sat there for a moment, wondering why the drink had such a bad reputation. Though he would soon find out.

Alex felt as if his stomach had sudden caught fire and acid had just been poured down this throat. He gasped for air as several people began to give him awkward stares. His lungs began to rattle before he nearly coughed them up. The woman beside him gave a glance of slight concern then slapped him on the back. However, the young man continued to cough.

"You alright, kid?"

Alex hacked in response, still struggling for air.

"Kid?"

Alex's lungs eventually settled down as the subtle blueness faded from his face and returned to a more natural color. The lady gave a soft sigh of relief and sent over a smile. The young man scowled.

"What's the matter, kid?" The woman said with a smirk, "Cheating death isn't something to frown about."

Alex kept the expression upon his face.

"Kid?"

"Don't call me, 'kid', got that?"

"Well, then what's your name? K-Ki..." The stranger stammered to a silence, catching herself.

"It doesn't matter."

"Look," said the woman with a hint of growing annoyance, "I don't know what your problem is, but if you keep this up..."

"I can take care of myself."

"I'm just trying to..."

"Like I said, I can take care of myself."